Ráisa´s 2nd Birthday!
Raisa with her Tio Hector...who knew balloons could be so much fun. Oh to be 2 years old again...
posted by Honduras Girl @ 1:08 PM
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
medical brigades...doctors and nurses and translators, oh my!
A common occurence in the life of peace corps volunteers: serving as translators for the many medical brigades that travel to developing countries.
The scenario: groups of well paid, english-speaking americans pay up to $3000 per person to travel to under-developed countries for a week and visit poor communities. They hand out vitamins, tylenol, and anti-parasite medication to anyone willing to stand in line for a few hours. Sometimes they extrct rotten teeth and hand out eye glasses, toothpaste and shampoo.
Having worked with two medcal brigades in the last year, I have become a bit skeptical of the work. Often the groups that come are simply spring break college students who want to see another part of the world and have no medical experience at all. And as the translator, I find myself at the middle of the encounter, translating the symptoms of each person to the volunteers who prepare the bags of anti-dhiarreal medications, anti-fungal creams, etc ... and becoming frustrated at the un-original list of symptoms that seem to be consistent with every patient: headaches, stomach-aches, cough and cold, leg pain, skin rashes or fungus. The list goes on, but is almost always the same with every person. So, the volunteers give out their month supply of vitamins and pain-reducers and send the villager on their way...a one-month band-aid until the next medical brigade comes to town.
Sure, occasionally we see some more serious situations, vericose veins that threaten amputation of limbs, ulcers in the feet that require minor surgery on the spot, diabetes and high-blood pressure due to the culture of the latin american diet, children with birth defects due to the mothers malnutrition during pregnancy, and each time, we talk with the ¨patients¨ about regular health care, diet and nutrition, and what foods to eat or avoid to maintain balanced health. As someone who has experienced her fair share of stomach problems in a developing country, I am familiar with the symptoms and how to regulate the problems that are created by unclean vegetables, drinking lots of coffee and coca cola, and cooking with grease or frying foods. But unfortunately, I have access to healthier culinary options than most of these people, and so the opportunity to modify diet is highly unlikely. I always ask the women who complain of back pain whether they carry baskets on their heads...and most of the time the answer is yes, because in order to make a living, they have to get their produce up and down the hill to the market each day. Some things you just can´t change or else you decrease the livelihood of a people.
Another problem we encounter is family planning, or the lack thereof. Just last week, I met a woman who at the age of 26 brought her 5 children (all girls, although they were beautiful) to the medical brigade. I gave her a bag of adult vitamins, but as I did, and just by chance, I asked her if she was pregnant, which she was, though she didn´t look it, so I changed the bag to the pre-natal vitamins which have extra nutrients and folic acid, to reduce risk of cleft lip and palette - a common birth defect in poor communities.
So, you ask why I write all of this. My project is municipal development, I do mostly infrastructure projects, and I really don´t enjoy translating for medical brigades, but every once in awhile you encounter someone who changes your life, or your perspective, in a small or a very big way, and this is why I write. Tal vez, this is why I am here. People always ask me whether I feel I am making a difference, and my reaction is that as an individual, there is very little that I can do, I am a regular human being, there is nothing that makes me special other than the fact that I had an opportunity as a peace corps volunteer to see what life looks like from both sides - opportune and inopportune. In order for any one person to make an impact there has to be equal interest or desire on the other side.
So, last week while I was working with another medical brigade I met a woman, who had that affect on me. This brigade, fortunately was composed of doctors, nurses, optomologists, and Christians. Although I don´t find myself to be a ¨religious¨ person down here in honduras, I have my church moments when I am not quite sure why, but something greater than me moves me in a way when I am least expecting. On this day, a single women of 61 years sat down in front of me and stared blankly. I did the usual asking what her symptoms were, but got no response. She just continued to stare expressionless. Another time, I asked if she cold explain to me how we could help her with no response. She appeared nervous and when I realized she wasn´t going to speak I asked her to show me with her hands or by shaking her head to my questions what problems she was having or what if any were her pains. We manged this way and when I thought we were done, I asked her one more question, whether she had a husband or any children at home. As it is very rare to see a single woman with no children, I thought maybe we could send extra vitamins with her for her children. And at this question, all of a sudden she began to speak. It threw me off. She said ¨Estoy solita¨ meaning that she is all alone. Then she said that 17 years ago she watched as someone broke into her house and killed her husband. Five years ago her daughter was killed, and she repeated again ¨Estoy solita.¨ More specifically meaning that not only is she alone, but she is lonely, and the stigma of being a single woman without children or a husband is great in a place like Honduras. The woman I was translating for handed her a cross and I translated her words, ¨That you are never alone.¨ And then the woman said one more thing. ¨Espero que me matan.¨ which translates, ¨I hope (or wait) for them to kill me.¨ and at this I couldn´t take translating anymore. Maybe this is where the medical brigades fall short. There are gaps that can´t be covered by band-aids and tylenol and I fill that gap between each patient and the brigade doctors. And in this gap is where all the emotion exists. Being that intermediary somehow allows me to connect with the Honduran person in a way that the brigade volunteers will never experience and what their $3000 will never be able to buy. I had to take a moment to gather myself, and we called a pastor over to talk more in depth with this woman outside of the clinic. I know they probably told her that God loves her and that she still has reason to live despite her situation, but I saw in that woman no desire to continue and that brought me to tears.
Over lunch, we had a minute to debrief that situation and the pastor asked me to share with the group about my interaction with that woman. I started to cry again as I explained to them what had transpired. And then I told them why it affected me the way it did. It is that whenever I see a woman like that, or a 26 year old girl with her 6th child on the way, or a child with severe malnutrition or other health problems, I always say to myself, ¨That could be me.¨ And this is what has had the greatest impact on me over these last two years. Each of us was born into a situation, without reason. None of us deserves what we have. We all want the same things in life for ourselves and our families, and none of us deserves a better or worse situation than the person sitting next to us. Unfortunately, the world can be both very beautiful and very ugly depending on the perspective you´ve been given. And I see people daily who work very hard but still have no place to go. And for some, there is nothing worth living for and so I don´t blame that woman for her words to me that day. But that could be me, and she could be the one handing out vitamins and tylenol, but just by chance, we each ended up where we did in this world and I have been given an opportunity to do something very small for her. And so goes the story. I don´t know how to end this, so I´ll leave you with that...its enough to think about for one day.
The scenario: groups of well paid, english-speaking americans pay up to $3000 per person to travel to under-developed countries for a week and visit poor communities. They hand out vitamins, tylenol, and anti-parasite medication to anyone willing to stand in line for a few hours. Sometimes they extrct rotten teeth and hand out eye glasses, toothpaste and shampoo.
Having worked with two medcal brigades in the last year, I have become a bit skeptical of the work. Often the groups that come are simply spring break college students who want to see another part of the world and have no medical experience at all. And as the translator, I find myself at the middle of the encounter, translating the symptoms of each person to the volunteers who prepare the bags of anti-dhiarreal medications, anti-fungal creams, etc ... and becoming frustrated at the un-original list of symptoms that seem to be consistent with every patient: headaches, stomach-aches, cough and cold, leg pain, skin rashes or fungus. The list goes on, but is almost always the same with every person. So, the volunteers give out their month supply of vitamins and pain-reducers and send the villager on their way...a one-month band-aid until the next medical brigade comes to town.
Sure, occasionally we see some more serious situations, vericose veins that threaten amputation of limbs, ulcers in the feet that require minor surgery on the spot, diabetes and high-blood pressure due to the culture of the latin american diet, children with birth defects due to the mothers malnutrition during pregnancy, and each time, we talk with the ¨patients¨ about regular health care, diet and nutrition, and what foods to eat or avoid to maintain balanced health. As someone who has experienced her fair share of stomach problems in a developing country, I am familiar with the symptoms and how to regulate the problems that are created by unclean vegetables, drinking lots of coffee and coca cola, and cooking with grease or frying foods. But unfortunately, I have access to healthier culinary options than most of these people, and so the opportunity to modify diet is highly unlikely. I always ask the women who complain of back pain whether they carry baskets on their heads...and most of the time the answer is yes, because in order to make a living, they have to get their produce up and down the hill to the market each day. Some things you just can´t change or else you decrease the livelihood of a people.
Another problem we encounter is family planning, or the lack thereof. Just last week, I met a woman who at the age of 26 brought her 5 children (all girls, although they were beautiful) to the medical brigade. I gave her a bag of adult vitamins, but as I did, and just by chance, I asked her if she was pregnant, which she was, though she didn´t look it, so I changed the bag to the pre-natal vitamins which have extra nutrients and folic acid, to reduce risk of cleft lip and palette - a common birth defect in poor communities.
So, you ask why I write all of this. My project is municipal development, I do mostly infrastructure projects, and I really don´t enjoy translating for medical brigades, but every once in awhile you encounter someone who changes your life, or your perspective, in a small or a very big way, and this is why I write. Tal vez, this is why I am here. People always ask me whether I feel I am making a difference, and my reaction is that as an individual, there is very little that I can do, I am a regular human being, there is nothing that makes me special other than the fact that I had an opportunity as a peace corps volunteer to see what life looks like from both sides - opportune and inopportune. In order for any one person to make an impact there has to be equal interest or desire on the other side.
So, last week while I was working with another medical brigade I met a woman, who had that affect on me. This brigade, fortunately was composed of doctors, nurses, optomologists, and Christians. Although I don´t find myself to be a ¨religious¨ person down here in honduras, I have my church moments when I am not quite sure why, but something greater than me moves me in a way when I am least expecting. On this day, a single women of 61 years sat down in front of me and stared blankly. I did the usual asking what her symptoms were, but got no response. She just continued to stare expressionless. Another time, I asked if she cold explain to me how we could help her with no response. She appeared nervous and when I realized she wasn´t going to speak I asked her to show me with her hands or by shaking her head to my questions what problems she was having or what if any were her pains. We manged this way and when I thought we were done, I asked her one more question, whether she had a husband or any children at home. As it is very rare to see a single woman with no children, I thought maybe we could send extra vitamins with her for her children. And at this question, all of a sudden she began to speak. It threw me off. She said ¨Estoy solita¨ meaning that she is all alone. Then she said that 17 years ago she watched as someone broke into her house and killed her husband. Five years ago her daughter was killed, and she repeated again ¨Estoy solita.¨ More specifically meaning that not only is she alone, but she is lonely, and the stigma of being a single woman without children or a husband is great in a place like Honduras. The woman I was translating for handed her a cross and I translated her words, ¨That you are never alone.¨ And then the woman said one more thing. ¨Espero que me matan.¨ which translates, ¨I hope (or wait) for them to kill me.¨ and at this I couldn´t take translating anymore. Maybe this is where the medical brigades fall short. There are gaps that can´t be covered by band-aids and tylenol and I fill that gap between each patient and the brigade doctors. And in this gap is where all the emotion exists. Being that intermediary somehow allows me to connect with the Honduran person in a way that the brigade volunteers will never experience and what their $3000 will never be able to buy. I had to take a moment to gather myself, and we called a pastor over to talk more in depth with this woman outside of the clinic. I know they probably told her that God loves her and that she still has reason to live despite her situation, but I saw in that woman no desire to continue and that brought me to tears.
Over lunch, we had a minute to debrief that situation and the pastor asked me to share with the group about my interaction with that woman. I started to cry again as I explained to them what had transpired. And then I told them why it affected me the way it did. It is that whenever I see a woman like that, or a 26 year old girl with her 6th child on the way, or a child with severe malnutrition or other health problems, I always say to myself, ¨That could be me.¨ And this is what has had the greatest impact on me over these last two years. Each of us was born into a situation, without reason. None of us deserves what we have. We all want the same things in life for ourselves and our families, and none of us deserves a better or worse situation than the person sitting next to us. Unfortunately, the world can be both very beautiful and very ugly depending on the perspective you´ve been given. And I see people daily who work very hard but still have no place to go. And for some, there is nothing worth living for and so I don´t blame that woman for her words to me that day. But that could be me, and she could be the one handing out vitamins and tylenol, but just by chance, we each ended up where we did in this world and I have been given an opportunity to do something very small for her. And so goes the story. I don´t know how to end this, so I´ll leave you with that...its enough to think about for one day.
posted by Honduras Girl @ 12:02 PM
3 comments
slight change of plans...
Well, I find myself at an internet cafe in comayagua...change of plans from how I started my day. I was intending to travel to the north coast to work in Lancetilla, the national botanical gardens, but about 30 minutes into my journey, we were forced to turn around due to a strike by the workers union, which had taken over the main highway traversing honduras between tegucigalpa and san pedro sula. This morning, I had seen on the news that the workers union had taken over parts of the highway surrounding the capital, but before beginning my travel, I failed to check with our head of security to see if it was affecting the rest of the country. When my ride approached Comayagua, we encountered hundreds of people in the highways forcing closure of the city entrance, but since I was already there, I decided to take advantage of the faster internet, espresson americano coffee shop (latin america´s version of starbucks) and run some other errands. Not sure how tricky it will be getting back home this afternoon. I will try to make my way up to the north coast tomorrow once the commosion clears.
posted by Honduras Girl @ 11:53 AM
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